Committee backs 2-year vacant-building tax abatement for Studebaker Administration Building at 635 South Main

The South Bend City Council’s Community Investment Committee voted 4-0 to send a confirming resolution recommending a two-year vacant-building tax abatement for 635 South Main Street, the Studebaker Administration Building.

The confirming resolution would vacate a portion of property taxes for two years to help stabilize and preserve the roughly 150,000-square-foot building, which petitioners said has been vacant for about two decades. "The intention is to ensure that the historic elements are retained," petitioner Kevin Smith said, describing plans to make the building watertight and to restore original features.

The abatement request was presented by Joe Molnar, Assistant Director of Growth and Opportunity. Molnar told the committee the stabilization project is intended to address major physical deterioration — including a failing roof and many missing windows — and preparatory environmental remediation so the structure can be positioned for future redevelopment. The total immediate investment for stabilization was described as roughly $920,000. Molnar said the proposed abatement would cover only a portion of taxes for the next two years; "the total estimated taxes abated would be a little over $20,000 with paid a little over $10,000," he said.

Kevin Smith, the petitioner, said he has studied and cared for the building for six or seven years and that the plan is to restore historic elements and reopen the building for future uses, potentially mixing commercial space on lower floors with residential units above. "We would... stabilize it, clean it up, finalize the MEP design, and then really pay attention to what's going on in the baseball stadium and the Cubs area and the surrounding to see what the highest and best use would be in, say, two years," Smith said.

No members of the public spoke for or against the abatement during the public hearing. Committee members raised no substantive objections on the record. The committee motion to forward Bill 25-09 to the committee of the whole with a favorable recommendation passed with four ayes recorded from Committee Member Gooden Rogers, Committee Member Bolden Simpson, Committee Vice Chair White and Committee Chair Warner.

The confirming resolution now moves to the committee of the whole for further consideration by the full council. If approved in subsequent proceedings, the abatement would take effect as described in the confirming resolution.